Ex-insurance exec admits bribery

An ex-insurance company vice president faces a year in jail after admitting yesterday he received $92,550 from a bounty hunter for steering business to him.

John Sullivan, 41, of Parsippany, pleaded guilty to commercial bribery in Superior Court in Morristown. While an officer of DeLos Insurance Co., Sullivan said he gave business to a bounty hunter -- identified in court papers as Adel Mikhaeil -- and approved his invoices without reviewing them, in exchange for payments received between February 2006 and November.

Insurance companies write policies for bail bondsmen that guarantee full bail will be paid if a defendant skips out. Some hire bounty hunters to bring fugitives back to avoid paying the bail.

Sullivan agreed as part of his plea deal to forfeit the money and help the state prosecute Mikhaeil, who was arrested along with two other bounty hunters in January on charges of conspiracy and tampering with witnesses and evidence.

The State Police investigation has reached into the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, where some officers are suspected of issuing Mikhaeil receipts to make it look as though he turned over fugitives who actually were picked up by local police or were already in jail, officials said. Those receipts would then be submitted by Mikhaeil to the insurance company for payment.

Sullivan pleaded guilty to a separate crime, admitting he allowed a person suspected of prostitution to launder money through his bank account between January 2003 and October 2007.

Sullivan is due to be sentenced July 10. One of the bounty hunters, George Formoe, also was scheduled to appear before Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto yesterday, but his case was adjourned until June 10.